Parables Christian Ministry Library

Lesson #178 - FIRST SHEAF
Part #2
by: Avram Yehoshua

THE PROCEDURE

On the Sunday of First Sheaf, the High Priest would be presented with an omer of very finely crushed barley. He would scoop up a handful of the grain, place some incense on it (symbolic of the prayers of the High Priest for Israel, and Israel's prayers also), wave it before Yahveh (a symbol of dedication, this first part of the crop representing all the harvest), bless Yahveh, and cast it upon the Fire of the Altar. As the first sheaf was dedicated to Yahveh, it made the rest of the harvest acceptable to Israel for their use.

Omer is a term which signifies a quantity of about two and a half pounds of grain. It comes from the name of the day, First Sheaf or First Fruit, being Omer Ray-sheet in the Hebrew. It literally means, the First Omer. It is from this term, omer, and what was done with it, being offered up to Yahveh, that would set in motion what is called 'the counting of the omer.' From the day it was offered, one was to count 50 days to the next Feast, Shavuot (Pentecost).

From the Hebrew, Leviticus 23:15 reads:
'Then you are to count from the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the omer (sheaf) wave offering, seven Sabbaths...'
And this is where we get the phrase, 'the counting of the omer.' Now, the relationship of the omer to Shavuot is that on the day the First Sheaf (Omer) is waved before Yahveh, the High Priest would count 50 days, and that 50th day would be Shavuot.

In His blessing Yahveh, the High Priest would thank Yahveh for His Faithfulness, in keeping His Word to Fathers Avraham, Itzhak and Yakov in that:

They would multiply like the stars of the Heavens,

and their Seed would be given the Land of Israel,

and their Seed would have Yahveh as their God forever.
Genesis 15:5: 'And He took him outside and said, 'Now look toward the Heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.' And He said to him, 'So shall your descendants be.'

Gen. 15:7: 'And He said to him, 'I am Yahveh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this Land to possess it.'

Gen. 17:2: 'I will establish My Covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.'

Gen. 17:4: 'As for Me, behold, My Covenant is with you, and you will be the Father of a multitude of nations.'

Gen. 17:7: 'I will establish My Covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting Covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you.'

Gen. 17:8: 'I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.'
And now, on First Sheaf, here was the High Priest, a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, representing all the Jewish People, who were thankful to Yahveh for keeping His Word; and that they were eating of the 'fruit' of the Land that Yahveh had given them.

The Priest, waving the new grain, would picture Israel's thankfulness and praise to Yahveh, for giving them a Land flowing with milk and honey.

The grain used would be barley, as it would ripen four to six weeks before the wheat harvest, (which would be offered on Shavuot, which is in early June). First Sheaf would be about mid April.

The wave offering of the first harvest pictured it and all the other harvests (summer and fall), that were to follow. They would all be dedicated or holy. This would make it acceptable to Yahveh. Without Him, they wouldn't be there. He was to get the first and the best.

The waving by the High Priest of the finely crushed barely grain, the first sheaf, would picture Yeshua being totally dedicated to Yahveh. The incense on that quantity that was to be thrown into the fire of the Altar (a handful), pictures the prayers of Yeshua as our High Priest, for His People Israel, engulfed in the Fire of the Holy Spirit. The High Priest, thanking Yahveh for the harvest, thanking Yahveh for His Faithfulness to Israel would picture Yeshua as our High Priest, thanking His Father for giving unto Israel their Messiah, their Savior, their King. The grain that was not thrown onto the fire of the Altar, the priests would eat. This pictures the Body of Yeshua being given to His priests, as Food for us (John 6:53). Yahveh has been found faithful to His Word. He has provided everything that Israel needs; from literal food to the Bread or Matza or Food of Heaven.

THE IGNORANT CHURCH

Because the Church severed its relationship both with the Jews who believed in Jesus and the Jews who didn't, and because they, for all practical purposes, 'threw the Old Testament out,' they placed themselves in a position of ignorance in relation to the basic tenets of the Word of God. This is one such instance:

In John 20:16 we see Miryam (Mary), clinging to Yeshua and:
'Yeshua said to her, 'Miryam!' She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, 'Rabboni!' (which means, My dear Rabbi).'
The reason why Yohanan 20:16 is in Scripture is because Yahveh wants us to understand that Jesus' first appearance has to do with the fulfillment of First Sheaf. First Sheaf was that Sunday of Passover Week. And that's why Yeshua says not to cling to Him in the very next verse:
John 20:17: 'Jesus said to her, 'Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'
Yeshua says to Miryam, 'Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended...' in wanting to fulfill the ceremony of First Sheaf in Heaven, in Yahveh's Presence!

Now we see the Heavenly Reality along with the Earthly. It doesn't mean the Earthly falls away, only that the Heavenly has been revealed! That was the reason why the Earthly was established in the first place! They are both valid for picturing what God has done for Israel. Now we can enter into the Feasts with both understandings of what they mean for us as believers in their Earthly and Heavenly Realities. They are both significant.

You'll notice that Yeshua has not yet ASCENDED, but obviously, He has already been resurrected. I state this because many followers of Jesus claim that He rose on Sunday. And because of that, Christianity has Sunday assembly or a 'Sunday Sabbath.' But no authoritative cite in the New Testament states that He rose on Sunday.

He is first seen on this Sunday of First Sheaf, which is why God set it up this way, for Yeshua ascends as the First Sheaf of all the Harvest (of People), to come. But this does not sanctify all Sundays, as even to the Jewish People, and of course the Bible, First Sheaf is not a holy day (or a Sabbath). This gives no warrant for Sunday observance, as this Sunday was placed within the Feasts of Israel for this purpose.

Yeshua's appearance before the Father would picture Yeshua being the First Sheaf from the Resurrection of the Dead (Earth). He would be holy unto Yahveh and make all that follow Him acceptable before Yahveh. Yeshua ascends to the Father on First Sheaf, but He is not raised from the dead on this day.

Yeshua is first seen alive on First Sheaf, but no one sees Him resurrect on Sunday and there is no authoritative Scripture to support a Sunday resurrection (or Sunday assembly over Sabbath assembly, or the doing away with the Sabbath because of an alleged Sunday resurrection).

Even if Yeshua did resurrect on Sunday, no cite in the New Testament tells us that because of this, Sunday is now the day of assembly; or that Sunday is the new Sabbath. Or that Sunday is holy. Or that Sunday is blessed (Genesis 2:3). If Sunday has replaced the 7th Day Sabbath, we would expect to find volumes on this, not just a (proof text) verse, here or there. These 'proof texts' are used to validate the removal of the Sabbath, but these are only further instances of theologians and people interpreting Scripture in ignorance.

The Tomb is empty...on Saturday night according to Matthew 28:1 which reads, 'Now after the Sabbath, in the dawning towards the first of the week...'

The word for 'Now' is ohp-seh and means, 'the first watch of evening.' (Wesley J. Perschbacher, editor, The New Analytical Greek Lexicon (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publications, 1990), p. 301). Perschbacher translates Matt. 28:1 as, 'After the close of the Sabbath' which means that it was Saturday night at dark. This literally begins the first day of the week (Sunday), in biblical terms (Genesis 1:5).

'In the dawning towards the first of the week...' does not necessarily refer to sunlight as in daybreak, for another Greek word could have been used for that, or-thros, which means, 'daybreak' or 'dawn.' The Greek word here is eh-pis-sos-ku-say which means, 'to dawn; hence used of the reckoned commencement of the day; to be near commencing.' (Ibid. p. 168) What Matthew is telling us is that the first day was approaching, the Sabbath was just over, and Miryam was going to the tomb in the darkness of the evening, Saturday night.

Another place where a derivative of this word is used is in Luke 23:54 where it states,
'And it was the day of preparation and the Sabbath was dawning.'
Obviously, if it was the day of preparation and the Sabbath was approaching, it would be Friday, late afternoon. (Not Friday night at 12 midnight.) It would still have to be Friday before dark. That would be when the Sabbath would biblically begin, not at sunset as is commonly held in Judaism. The word here is eh-peh-fos-ken (Ibid). So, it should be translated:

Now, after the close of the Sabbath, it was the first watch of the evening, the first day of the week approaching, Miryam came...(Matt. 28:1)

Also interesting is what the angel says to Miryam, 'He was raised' and not, 'He was just raised when I rolled the stone away...' Matthew 28:6